Accident Prone
Part 2

 

What do you want for Christmas?

 

I stared at the piece of paper in front of me that had one line of Jessica’s lovely handwriting on it.

 

“The Aztecs were very well known for their human sacrifice rituals which…”

 

I droned out my history teacher and quickly wrote a response. I took a quick glance at my babbling teacher before discreetly handing her the note.

 

It had been around three months since that day in the library. The day after that, she promptly kicked Taeyeon out of her seat next to me in the back, reasoning that she needed a better hiding place to be able to sleep in class without getting caught.

 

 

Three months ago

 

“Hey Yuri, your girlfriend’s walking over here.”

 

I glanced up to see that beautiful blonde haired woman walking towards the corner Taeyeon and I sat in. She grinned and waved at me. I couldn’t hide the grin that appeared on my face and waved back. She was till as pretty as ever…

 

Wait, what did that shorty just say?

 

“She’s not my – Jessica! You’re in this class?”

 

“Um yeah, you told me we had class together yesterday, remember?”

 

“Oh, right, forgot.” I let out a nervous laugh and scratched the back of my head. I glanced at Taeyeon to see the return of her stupid smirk. I still have to push her down some stairs. Some stairs will knock that smirk right off of you Taeyeon…just wait…

 

“So what brings you to our humble corner?” Taeyeon announced dramatically. “Jessica, is it?” Jessica had an amused smile on her face before nodding hesitantly. “Nice to meet you. I’m Taeyeon.” Taeyeon then abruptly took her hand and shook it enthusiastically.

 

“Uh, nice to meet you too.” That amused smile was still on her face as she greeted my idiotic best friend.

 

“So what did you need?” I asked a little louder than I intended, successfully separating their hands and interrupting their eye contact. Not that that was my intention or anything. They can go ahead and hold hands and stare into each other eyes and smile at each other all they want for all I care. It didn’t matter one bit to me. Nope, not at all. I didn’t just imagine throwing Taeyeon into burning volcano. Of course I didn’t.

 

They both gave me a weird look.

 

“I just wanted to ask Taeyeon something actually…are you okay Yuri?”

 

“Huh?”

 

“Your eye’s twitching,” Taeyeon said pointing at my right eye.

 

“Oh, uh, there’s probably just an eyelash stuck in there.” I let out a laugh louder than I intended. They both raised an eyebrow at me. I gulped. And here I thought I was done making a fool out of myself in front of her. The embarrassment is never ending, isn’t it?

 

Taeyeon cleared and started talking again. “So what did you want to ask me Jessica?”

 

That piece of information had slipped my mind earlier. Jessica wanted to ask Taeyeon something. What in the world would she want to ask her? They just met two minutes ago! She should be asking me something, not that short dork over there!

 

…Not that I was hoping she would ask me something or anything.

 

“Can we switch seats?”

 

“Well I – wait what?!” The huge grin disappeared from her face. Which, of course, made the grin on my face appear. “No way!” Taeyeon immediately rejected her offer. Jessica wanted to switch seats with Taeyeon? I wasn’t sure why, but I wanted to smack her on the head and scream at her to just let her take his seat.

 

Jessica pouted.

 

You are too cute…

 

“Please?” I felt myself swooning over her. “It’s easier to sleep in this corner of the room.” Well I had to admit, the two of us had the best seats in the class if you didn’t want to get caught doing anything. But, I probably had the better seat. I mean, I’m taller, so it was easier to spot me! It was only right that I get the more concealed seat. She’s so short she could hide from that bonehead of a teacher from practically any seat in the room.

 

“Why don’t you switch with Yuri?”

 

Why didn’t she?

 

Don’t get me wrong, I certainly wasn’t in any hurry to give up my seat, but if she was going to ask anyone to switch, why not ask the person she already knows (albeit, only for a day, but better than someone she’s only known for a couple minutes) who also has the better seat?

 

“I like your seat better.”

 

“Why? It’s even easier to sleep in Yuri’s seat. And she’d probably be a lot more willing than me to switch with you!”

 

Jessica’s expression suddenly changed. I suddenly felt a lot colder than I was before. I wasn’t sure if it was just me or not. She leaned on Taeyeon’s table with one hand and placed her other hand on her hip. She gave our little Taengoo the iciest glare I had ever seen.

 

“Move.”

 

I saw Taeyeon gulp.

 

“N-no.”

 

“I’m going to say this one more time Taeyeon. Move. Now. Right now. N.O.W!”

 

You know, she was kind of y when she was angry…

 

I heard the loud screech of Taeyeon’s chair and watched her scramble out of her seat and move to Jessica’s old seat closer to the front of the room. Jessica happily sat down in her newly acquired seat. She turned to me and smiled, any traces of iciness completely gone. I could only offer my usual sheepish grin back at her. I sent a look of pity towards poor little Taengoo at Jessica’s old seat.

 

The bell rang and class finally started.

 

I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. I pulled it out to see a message from Taeyeon.

 

Taeyeon: Dude, your girlfriend is crazy.

 

I held in a sigh and rolled my eyes.

 

Yuri: She is not my girlfriend.

 

It wasn’t long before I felt the vibration again.

 

Taeyeon: Not yet anyway ;). Seriously though, did you not see that glare she gave me? I liked that seat too…T_T

 

I glanced, or stared, same thing, at the ice princess next to me and thought about her earlier change in attitude. That was probably the most incredible display of mood swings I had ever seen.

 

I should be scared, shouldn’t I?

 

She looked up at me and caught me staring at her. She smiled at me.

 

I couldn’t help but grin back at her.

 

She wasn’t scary at all.

 

I felt that weird feeling in my stomach again.

 

Yuri: It wasn’t that bad. Stop being such a baby about it.

 

Taeyeon: I AM NOT BEING A BABY! Besides, you’re just happy that you get to sit next to her now. Planning on making a move anytime soon, lover girl?

 

Yuri: Oh please, anyone is better to sit next to than you. AND THERE IS NO MOVE TO MAKE. Stop butting into my love life and start getting more involved in your own!

 

Taeyeon: Ooh~ someone’s getting defensive~ And fyi, I’m plenty involved in my own love life!

 

Yuri: Not from what I hear~ And I am NOT getting defensive!

 

Taeyeon: WHAT DID FANY TELL YOU?

 

Yuri: Hm, nothing~ :)

 

Taeyeon: …You’re bluffing, aren’t you? -_- Stop trying to get the attention off of yourself, lover girl. It’s been, like, 10 minutes and you still haven’t made a move. Hurry it up man!

 

Yuri: Get off my back about this Taeng.

 

Taeyeon: But your back is so comfortable. ;]

 

Yuri: …You seriously need to get laid.

 

Taeyeon: Fany’s been busy.

 

“Kim Taeyeon!” A loud booming voice interrupted me from typing up another response.

 

Uh oh.

 

I watched as our teacher grabbed the phone from her hands and gave her a glare before going back to teaching. He was rambling on about something that happened a thousand years ago or something like that, nothing I found very important.

 

Taeyeon turned to glare at me from her seat. I threw her an innocent smile before turning away from her.

 

I focused my attention on something much more appealing than Taeng’s glare. I couldn’t hide the huge grin that appeared on my face as I continued to stare at the sleeping figure next to me. I wondered how it was possible for someone to be so beautiful even while sleeping.

 

She was already a much better neighbor than Tae.

 

 

Present

 

Jessica looked back up at me and pouted. She probably just finished reading my response to her question. I offered her an apologetic smile before turning away. If I stared at her any longer my insides would probably melt.

 

Are you doing this to me on purpose? Or are you just this adorable normally?

 

I thought about her question again. What do I want for Christmas?

 

I glanced over to my right to see her drifting off to sleep once again.

 

What do I want for Christmas?

 

Well…

 

“Hey!”

 

“Whoa!”

 

I almost jumped out of my seat at the sight of Taeyeon’s face in front of me. I looked around the classroom to see the rush of students trying to shove their way through the door. Was class over already? How come I didn’t notice? Usually I’m counting down the seconds in this class, especially since it was the last class of the day.

 

“So is that a yes?”

 

“Huh?”

 

“Weren’t you listening to me?”

 

“Uh…” Honestly, I kind of forgot Taeng was even there. There were still people loitering around the room. What were they still doing here? People get out of this class the first second they can leave their seats.

 

Sheesh, Yuri, you need to start paying more attention in class.

 

Well, in my defense, I do pay attention in class…

 

Yeah, to Jessica, not the class.

 

“Yuri!”

 

Taeyeon snapped me out of my daydreams.

 

“So do you want to be partners or what? I don’t even think we have a choice. Everyone else has paired up.”

 

“Partners? For what?” What exactly did I miss?

 

“For the project due next week! Weren’t you listening earlier? And I thought I was the one that needed to pay more attention…”

 

“You are.”

 

“Not anymore! Not since your girlfriend kicked me out of my seat…” she mumbled that last part under her breath. You know, it wasn’t even worth my time to correct her anymore. She had been calling her that for the past three months, and I didn’t think she would be stopping anytime soon. And I’ve yet to find a set of stairs I can push her down. I’ll deal with her later.

 

I wondered if Jessica would want to be my partner…I mean, she’d probably be more on task than Taeyeon anyway, right? Plus, it’d be a nice break working with someone that didn’t bring their girlfriend with them everywhere. Yeah, that was the only reason I wanted to work with her.

 

Right?

 

And just like that, I let my eyes wander to their familiar spot.

 

Holy crap.

 

She was talking to some guy. Who the hell is that guy?! Is he in our class? He is, isn’t he? What was his name again? I think his name started with a D…

 

Oh. My. God.

 

She’s laughing. Why is she laughing? Who is she laughing with?

 

I quickly grabbed Taeyeon’s collar. Her eyes grew big at the sudden gesture, but I didn’t really give a damn. There was only one thing on my mind.

 

“Who the hell is that guy?” I hissed, still glaring at the laughing couple.

 

Couple.

 

Just the thought of those two being a couple made me sick to my stomach. Taeyeon spared a quick glance to the two. “Oh him? He’s –” I saw that all too familiar Cheshire Cat grin slowly spread across her face. “Why? You wouldn’t happen to be –”

 

“I AM NOT JEALOUS!” I shouted standing up, letting go of Taeyeon’s collar, and slamming both my hands on the table.

 

I could feel everyone’s eyes on me. I quickly grabbed my stuff and stormed out of the room as fast I could, pausing only to glance at Jessica’s confused stare. I let out a bitter laugh. My eyes couldn’t help but fall on her one last time before I left the room.

 

What’s going on?

 

I could hear Taeyeon’s quick footsteps following mine.

 

“Yuri!”

 

I kept walking. For some reason, I didn’t feel like talking. I used my longer legs to my advantage and continued my trek home.

 

What is this? My stomach was churning with this…weird feeling.

 

Why do I care so much about her and…and that guy?

 

The two of them laughing together suddenly entered my mind. I mean, they were most likely just friends. They were just talking for goodness sakes. There was absolutely nothing that indicated they were romantically involved what-so-ever!

 

I already knew all of that.

 

But, the thought of her even possibly being roman

tically involved with him, or anyone for that matter, seemed to tug at my heartstrings.

 

I don’t…no…I couldn’t possibly…maybe I do?

 

 

Two months ago

 

“Your girlfriend’s stealing all of my girlfriend’s time.”

 

“For the last time, she is –”

 

“– not your girlfriend. I know. Girlfriend or not, she’s taking up all of Fany’s time!”

 

Before I could say anything in return, Sunny interrupted me.

 

“Oh thank god! You two were starting to suffocate me.”

 

The two began to bicker about whether the excessive amount of PDA Taeyeon and Tiffany showed was disturbing or not; which it was, but I decided to stay out of the conversation and instead focused on the pile of food set in front of me. I wondered if it was even edible. School lunches could be so questionable sometimes. I started to poke the food with my unused fork.

 

Hm, it jiggles.

 

Was it supposed to do that?

 

“So Yuri, when am I going to meet this girlfriend of yours?”

 

I stopped my poking of the questionable food – seriously, was it supposed to be some type of jelly or something? – and looked at the two grinning midgets across from me.

 

“Sunny, not you too,” I groaned. Having Taeyeon tease me endlessly was tiring as is. I didn’t need both of them on my case.

 

“I’m just kidding! Relax! I’d like to think I’m a lot more tolerable than Taeyeon over here.”

 

We both ignored her complaints.

 

“But I really do want to meet the girl that managed to steal Fany away from Tae.”

 

It was true. As soon as Jessica met Tiffany they became best friends instantly. I wasn’t even sure why, they were polar opposites! Was it because Tiffany spoke English? I could speak English.

 

…Not that I cared that they’re spending so much time together or anything like that.

 

“She did not steal her from me!” Taeyeon shouted.

 

“Steal who from you?”

 

The three of us all turned to face the owner of the new voice.

 

“Fany-ah!”

 

Taeyeon grinned as Tiffany sat down next to her. The grin on Taeng’s face grew wider as Fany gave her a peck on the lips. I rolled my eyes at the lovey-dovey couple. I was happy for them, I really was. Anyone could see how much the two liked each other even before they got together. But did they really have to be so…expressive about it? Sunny seemed to share my thoughts as she scooted a little further away from the couple, regretting choosing to sit next to Taeyeon in the first place.

 

“Get a room.” I grinned as soon as I heard the familiar icy tone.

 

Even after a month, I was still stunned every time I saw her. She still somehow managed to glow in the crummy lighting the cafeteria offered.

 

Tiffany stuck her tongue out at Jessica before proceeding to feed Taeyeon her food. Homemade food. Food that looked edible. I should’ve made Taeng cook for me too…

 

“Are they always like this?” she whispered to me as she sat down in the seat next to mine. I turned to answer her question, but the words got caught in my throat. She hadn’t been that close to me since that day in the library…

 

“Y-yeah,” I finally replied, but I could hear my voice crack. I cleared my throat and tore my gaze away from her. I saw Sunny give me a mischievous grin. I mentally slapped myself.

 

Kwon Yuri, snap out of it! She’s just a pretty girl. A really, really, really, really, pretty girl…

 

“Be quiet Jessica! You’re just jealous,” Taeyeon shouted in-between bites.

 

“Oh, come on; are you still bitter about your seat? That was a month ago! Get over it!” Jessica retorted before looking down at the food on her plate. “What the hell is this…?” she murmured under her breath. I was glad I wasn’t only one who didn’t know what the hell the cafeteria was serving.

 

“Give her a break Jessi. You scared my TaeTae that day!”

 

Sunny and I had to hold in our laughter at the sight of Jessica’s disgusted face.

 

“I tried to be nice about it…it wasn’t even that bad!”

 

The three continued to argue, but I managed to tune them out. It was a normal thing to do when Taeyeon and Tiffany were around.

 

And it was so easy when Jessica was next to me.

 

Every time she was around I couldn’t help but fall silent. It was such an abnormal thing for me to do. I was usually loud and outgoing. I couldn't care less about what people think of me. But around her, I was so much more conscious of how I acted and how I looked. I was suddenly aware of how goofy I always was. I cared more about how I came off to others.

 

Or more specifically, how I came off to her.

 

“Yuri! You were there. Taeyeon’s overreacting, isn’t she?”

 

I looked up from my food, if it could even be called that, and smiled at her.

 

Do you have any idea what you’re doing to me, Jessica?

 

“Of course she is.”

 

Because I sure as hell don’t.

 

Jessica had a triumphant smirk on her face. Her smirk looked a million times better than Taeng’s. “See? Yuri agrees with me!”

 

“Oh, I have a feeling Yuri would agree with anything you say,” Sunny suddenly remarked still grinning at me. She just earned a spot next to Taeng down the stairs. “I don’t think I introduced myself. I’m Soonkyu, but everyone calls me Sunny.”

 

“I’m – ”

 

“Sica!”

 

A tall girl suddenly came towering over Jessica and threw one arm around her shoulders.

 

“You going to eat that?”

 

Jessica shook her head and pushed the tray of food to her. The girl’s expression immediately brightened and she sat down in-between Sunny and Jessica.

 

“How can you eat that?” Jessica made a disgusted face as the girl happily chewed the food.

 

“She’s had years of experience eating anything and everything in sight,” another girl chirped behind me. More people seemed to come in by the second. The other girl sat down in the only seat left, next to me.

 

“Sooyoung, the greatest person you will ever meet,” the tall girl managed to introduce herself before continuing to devour her food. She kind of reminded me of Yoona with the way she was eating that…

 

More greetings were exchanged between the other girls. They continued to talk. I had a hard time paying attention with Jessica sitting so close to me. I wondered if she was doing this on purpose. Did she realize she was sitting closer to me than how anyone else is sitting at this table? Even Taeyeon and Tiffany, the couple that could win the award for excessive amounts of PDA, had a respectable distance between them. I thought for a second that maybe it was just me. I glanced at her again.

 

No, it can’t be. She was definitely sitting too close…

 

…I didn’t really mind it all that much.

 

“…Hyoyeon.” I only managed to catch the last part of her sentence. She was turned to me with a polite smile.

 

Crap, was she talking to me?

 

“Kwon Yuri,” I replied as soon as I caught on that I was the last person to introduce myself.

 

“Ah, Kwon Yuri…” Sooyoung started to say something, but Jessica quickly shoved more food in . I glanced at Jessica’s two friends that randomly joined us. Both of them were grinning widely at Jessica, as if there was some inside joke the rest of us didn’t get.

 

The table quickly became very lively. The chatter between the six girls seemed to resonate in the large room. It was almost impossible to think that half of us just met for the first time with how loud everyone was being. Usually, I’d be one of those loud voices, the loudest even, but I couldn’t seem to form any words. Usually, I’d be having a random conversation with Taeyeon or Sunny about, I don’t know, pudding; pudding was always a good topic. Usually, I’d be making a fool out of myself. Usually….usually…

 

I was quick to figure out that things weren’t so usual whenever Jessica was around.

 

“If you’re not going to eat that then…”

 

I laughed at her. “You remind me so much of my sister…” I pushed my tray of food towards her, and she gleefully accepted. “She’ll eat anything too.”

 

“You’ve been too quiet Yuri, something wrong?” Tiffany asked. For a second I thought she was concerned, but as soon as I looked at her and her “TaeTae” I threw the thought out. Those two…

 

It looked like Tiffany was going to be joining her girlfriend and Sunny down the stairs.

 

“Nothing, guess I’m just hungry. I didn’t get a chance to eat breakfast this morning either…” I murmured. It wasn’t far from the truth. The hunger in my stomach was getting hard to ignore. I frowned. I didn’t even get a chance to grind my Ma in the morning.

 

“Why’s that?” Sunny asked. “You’re usually so diligent about those things.”

 

I grimaced as I remembered what happened this morning. “Yoona…her and her stupid pranks…”I grumbled.

 

Taeyeon let out her familiar laugh. “What’d she do this time?”

 

“Remember that oatmeal prank I did?”

 

As soon as I mentioned it, the three’s expressions darkened, while the other three beside me listened curiously.

 

“What’s the oatmeal prank?” Hyoyeon questioned.

 

“Nothing!” the three chorused. I couldn’t hold in my laughter as I remembered what I did to the three.

 

“I can’t believe I thought of that…I’m so smart!” I shouted laughing and banging the table with one hand in amusement. I heard Jessica giggle next to me. I turned to her and grinned proudly.

 

“So what does Yoona have to do with that?” My grin immediately disappeared.

 

“Let’s just say she learns well.”

 

The four of us silently agreed never to talk of the oatmeal incident ever again.

 

I shuddered at the thought…

 

The other three continuously barraged us with questions.

 

“Trust us, you don’t want to know.” Taeyeon stated. The deadpan look on her face was almost comical.

 

“Oh come on, tell us! How about we trade you some embarrassing pictures of Jessica in return?” Sooyoung tried to bribe us. It was certainly a tempting offer…

 

“Hey!” Jessica hit the back of Sooyoung’s head. I could only grin at the sight. There was just something about her being violent…or her being anything really. There was just something about her that was so addictive.

 

“What? There’s no point in bringing us all down!”

 

“I want to see!” shouted Tiffany.

 

Hyoyeon laughed. “Are you sure? There are some pretty ugly pictures of her…”

 

Before anyone could say anything in response, I could feel my mouth moving automatically.

“That’s impossible, there’s no way Sica could look ugly,” I blurted out without thinking.

 

Kwon Yuri, what are you saying?

 

I gulped when I felt her stare at me. I fixed my gaze on the table.

 

Did they ever clean these?

 

“You really think that?”

 

The silence at the table was unnerving. “I- er, well, um- you, uh…yeah.” I could feel the heat rise to my cheeks. What was I thinking?

 

A loud grumble interrupted anyone from saying anything else/

 

“Hey, why don’t we all just ditch our last class and go grab some real food?” Jessica suddenly suggested, breaking the silence. I was relieved at the change of topic. I had never been more thankful for not eating the whole day.

 

“Can’t, Sunny and I have an exam next period.”

 

“No we – ow!” I felt the table shake a little and Sunny glared at Sooyoung before they both shared a smirk. “I mean, oh yeah, that test…”

 

Since when did they have class together?

 

Sooyoung grabbed Sunny by the arm and dragged her off shouting something about getting some last minute studying done. I wondered when they had gotten so close.

 

“Well I’m all for skipping that bonehead’s class!” Taeyeon shouted.

 

“Seohyun would kill you,” Tiffany stated bringing up Taeyeon’s odd little cousin. That kid was so into her studies it actually scared me sometimes. At least she was a good influence on Yoona. “Besides…you have to go to class anyway.”

 

“Why do I – ”

 

“You just do!” Tiffany shouted before Taeyeon could finish her question and dragged her away. “I’ll see you guys later!”

 

“And uh, I have stuff to do too…bye guys!” Hyoyeon muttered before quickly speeding off.

 

What just happened?

 

“They are the worst liars ever…”

 

“Huh?”

 

“Nothing!” I could’ve sworn I heard her say they were lying… “So, you want to go?”

 

She smiled at me.

 

How could I say no to her?

 

Besides, anything’s better than sitting in for another boring lecture about something that happened thousands of years ago. Poor Taeng.

 

“Let’s go! I’m starving,” I grinned and pulled her along with me.

 

I couldn’t help but be happy around her. I wasn’t sure why. She dragged me around, I paid for her food, and she wouldn’t stop hitting me. Maybe it was because I kept scaring her…

 

And yet, I couldn’t get the stupid grin off of my face.

 

I thought the weird feeling in my stomach would go away once I ate something, but it only intensified as the day went on. That weird feeling only happened whenever Jessica was around…Maybe she caused indigestion or something to pay the price of being too beautiful. I nodded to myself. That must have been it.

 

Jessica causes indigestion.

 

 

Present

 

I opened up the door and trudged up the stairs. I heard someone rummaging around in the kitchen. Probably Yoona looking for more food, like always. I opened up the door to my room and plopped down onto my bed, burying my face into a pillow.

 

Why couldn’t it be as simple as Jessica causing indigestion?

 

The door burst open. “Yuri!” I recognized Taeyeon’s voice. I kept my face buried in my pillow. “Yah! Yuri!” I heard her walk towards my bed. It sounded like more than just one set of footsteps though… No, it was impossible…She wouldn’t have come after me…would she?

 

Suddenly I felt the bed start to shake and I looked up to see my sister and her jumping up and down on my bed. I groaned and let my head fall back down. “What are you two doing?”

 

What was I hoping for?

 

Who was I hoping for? “Yah! Get off my bed!”

 

“Sheesh, why are you so grumpy?” Yoona said sitting down on my bed.

 

“Is it that time of the month?”

 

“What does Tiffany see in you…” I grumbled sitting up and facing the two.

 

“What are you talking about? I’m adorable!”

 

Yoona burst out into laughter before getting up. “Yuri unnie! I’m going to order some take out since you obviously don’t feel like cooking anything,” she told me. She was about to leave the room before she turned back to me. “Does this have anything to do with Sica unnie?”

 

“Get out!” I shouted throwing a pillow at her. She slammed the door before it reached her and I could hear her loud laughter echoing throughout the house. Hm, if I run after her now then I could reach her in time to push her down the stairs…

 

“Does it?” Taeyeon asked. I sighed and fell back down on my bed. When did this start happening?

 

“Tae…I think I like her.”

 

“…Are you seriously just figuring that out now?” I stared up at the ceiling and thought about her question.

 

“I think…I’ve always known, I guess.”

 

That was the only answer I could think of. There was always a part of me that just kind of knew I held some type of attraction to her. There was always this small little voice whispering to me, you like her. I locked away the voice in a cell deep inside my heart and ignored it as best as I could, but every time she was around it got harder to ignore.

 

You like her.

 

It would always start off as a whisper. Then she’d do something to set it off, something like laugh.

 

You like her.

 

It’d repeat it to me again, just a little louder. She’d smile at me.

 

You like her.

 

It wasn’t a whisper anymore. She’d lean on me.

 

You like her.

 

It was starting to sound like it was chanting along with every beat of my heart.

 

You like her.

 

It would only get louder with every action she did.

 

You like her.

 

She’d flirt with other guys.

 

You like her.

 

She’d get mad at me.

 

You like her.

 

Then, she’d leave. She’d say goodbye at the end of every day. She would always be the first one to leave, whether we were just having lunch or sending each other messages online. I’d always wait for her to leave first every night before finally deciding to sleep, and every night I couldn’t help but wish that she would be willing to stay up just a little longer. The voice would be screaming at me by then, but I always found a way to push it back into its cell. And it’d always find a way to break out.

 

All it needed was the key, and that key was Jessica.

 

She was the trigger that started all the conflict inside me. Once I locked everything up, she’d come by and unleash all the yelling, screaming, and arguing inside of me all over again.

 

It was probably the most beautiful torture I could ever receive.

 

“So, what are you going to do now?” Taeyeon asked. I stared at her with a bewildered expression.

 

“I’m supposed to do something?”

 

“Uh, yeah. Like, I don’t know, tell her?”

 

“That’s ridiculous!” I could never tell her…could I?

 

“How is that ridiculous? That’s what you told me to do, and I did it!”

 

“And you were stupid enough to listen to me!”

 

“Well it worked, didn’t it? Now it’s your turn to be stupid enough to listen to me!”

 

“Even if I wanted to tell her, how exactly would I do that? Just go ahead and blurt it out?”

 

“That’s what I did! What? You want some cute way of confessing? Alright, I have some cute ideas!” I raised an eyebrow at her. “Okay, so you know whales, right?”

 

“Just stop there…”

 

“What? It gets better, I swear! So, you draw a whale –”

 

“I don’t even know if she likes girls, Taeng,” I interrupted before she could finish what she was saying.

 

“You never know.” Taeyeon grinned at me, but this one was more sincere than her usual one. It was a supportive one, an understanding one. “I’m not saying she’ll say yes, but shouldn’t you at least give it a shot?”

 

I can’t, I won’t.

 

Why not?

 

Because she’ll break my heart.

 

How do you know that?

 

There’s a pretty good chance she will.

 

And what about that small chance that she won’t?

 

Well, she might.

 

She might not.

 

“I don’t know, Tae…”

 

“Alright then, do whatever you want,” she said giving up. One of the reasons she’s one of my best friends is that she knows when to out. “Let’s just get started on that stupid project then, okay?”

 

I smiled at her. Surprisingly, she was one of the few people I knew that didn’t procrastinate. This little shorty is just full of surprises. “Alright then…what are we supposed to do again?”

 

She rolled her eyes at me and handed me her notes. For someone who sleeps in class, she’s oddly very organized and on top of things…I smiled to myself. She was such a natural born leader.

 

“Oh yeah, before I forget, here,” she said handing me a small piece of paper. “Sica asked me to give it to you before I left.”

 

I stared at the familiar piece of paper.

 

What do you want for Christmas?

 

Don’t get me anything. I don’t celebrate Christmas.

 

I looked at the last line that wasn’t there before I handed it back to her.

 

Well I hope you know that doesn’t excuse you from getting me a present. :)

 

I grinned.

 

Just like my Sica to say something like that.

 

You like her.

 

 

 

Christmas Eve

 

“Ah choo!”

 

“Unnie! What’d you do to go ahead and get yourself sick?” Seohyun chided. She handed me a bowl of soup. “Here, Taeyeon unnie told me to bring this to you.”

 

I sniffled. “Thanks,” I muttered.

 

“Yoona and I are going to go out. Are you going to be okay by yourself?”

 

I laughed. “I’ll be fine, you guys go on ahead,” I said trying to convince her to leave. You idiot, you can barely get out of bed without feeling dizzy, you’re not going to be fine!

 

Seohyun look unconvinced. I was always a bad liar. “Are you sure?”

 

“She’ll be fine! Besides, I called up someone to come by and take care of her,” Yoona said coming in through the door. “How are you feeling unnie?”

 

“Horrible.”

 

“Great! Let’s go Hyunnie!”

 

“Yoona!”

 

“What? There’ll be someone over soon!”

 

“Then we should wait till they’re here.”

 

“But we’re going to be late!”

 

I rolled my eyes at the two kids. I chuckled and their attention turned towards me. “Just go guys, I’ll be fine and I’m sure whoever Yoong called will be here soon,” I said trying to reassure them. “Wait, who’d you call anyway?”

 

Yoona was already trying to drag Seohyun out the door. “Oh, don’t worry. It’s someone you’re close with!” she shouted before I heard her rush down the stairs. “Bye unnie!”

 

“Take care of yourself unnie!” Seohyun shouted before I heard the door downstairs slam shut. My parents were off visiting some other relatives and their flight was delayed for another two days due to some snowstorm, so I was all alone in the house until whoever Yoona called came.

 

Who could it be? It couldn’t be Taeng…she was spending today with Fany. Unless she brought her over too. It wasn’t that I minded her or anything. I mean, I had been friends with her almost as long as I have with Taeng, but having them both over might make me even more nauseated…

 

I shook my head. I’ll just see who it is when they come.

 

I finished the soup Taeyeon sent over and felt myself start to fall asleep. I tried to stay awake. I figured I should be awake when this person arrives…

 

I’ll just close my eyes for a little bit…

 

…

 

The lights are shining on me~

And it’s like a diamond~

 

I opened my eyes at the sound of the Christmas music. I groaned. Yoona must have set this stupid alarm for me. I reached out to turn off the alarm without opening my eyes. My hand felt something that was definitely not my alarm. What is this? It feels like…hair? Curiosity forced me to open my eyes.

 

I froze as soon as I saw there was someone lying next to me.

 

Oh, and it wasn’t just anyone.

 

Jessica.

 

I shook my head and tried to think rationally, ignoring the headache that was growing. Yoona probably called her here. As much as I wanted to be mad at my little sister, the more I stared at Jessica, the less mad I got. I smiled. She looked so peaceful. An open book was lying on her stomach and she had one arm raised above her head while the other one rested across the top of her book. Her blonde hair was sprawled in a mess all around her. Cute.

 

How lucky am I to be lying next to this girl?

 

My hand fumbled around a while longer before I finally managed to hit the alarm. Thank god Sica’s a deep sleeper. I mentally groaned when I realized the alarm meant I had to take my medicine. I looked around for the pills. Where the hell did Yoona put them? I held in another groan when I realized they were probably still downstairs. I should just ask Sica to get them for me…

 

I glanced at the sleeping figure to my left and quickly dismissed the thought.

 

If it were anyone else, I would’ve woken them up and told them to get it for me. I grabbed some more tissues for my nose before attempting to get out of bed. Okay, Kwon Yuri, you can do this.

 

Who the hell decided to make this house so big?

 

As soon as I sat up, the pounding in my head increased tenfold. Damn it! Hmm, I’m seeing two of everything…that can’t be good. Maybe I can just…

 

“Whoa!”

 

I ended up rolling off my bed. Yeah okay, probably not such a bright idea…I closed my eyes in pain. This was definitely not helping this headache.

 

“Yuri?”

 

I opened my eyes to see her head sticking out from the bed staring down at me. She rubbed her eyes drowsily.

 

She was too adorable for her own good.

 

She giggled at the sight of me tangled in the sheets on the floor with one leg still hanging onto the bed. “What are you doing down there?”

 

“Gravity and I don’t get along very well.”

 

“Obviously,” she said with a grin before she helped me back up.

 

You like her.

 

Oh shut up. I know that already.

 

So? Time to do something about it. You guys are alone. It’s perfect.

 

Yeah, and I’m as sick as a camel. So romantic.

 

…As sick as a camel?

 

Shut up.

 

Whatever. Just confess!

 

Haha, you’re funny.

 

Why are you so against it?

 

Because…I don’t think I can handle ruining what we have now.

 

What makes you think it’ll be ruined? It could get better.

 

And what if it doesn’t? What if we can’t be friends anymore?

 

That’s just a chance you’re going to have to take.

 

No it’s not.

 

Just do it. Can’t you see how happy she is around you?

 

That doesn’t mean she likes me the same way.

 

And what if it does?

 

…And what if she breaks my heart?

 

What if she doesn’t?

 

I felt her climb back onto the bed. “Here, take it,” she said handing me the pills I was attempting to get earlier along with a glass of water.

 

“Thanks,” I mumbled before swallowing the pills. “So, you come here to take care of me, but end up falling asleep? Such a good caretaker,” I said laughing to myself. She playfully shoved me and pouted. My grin only grew wider.

 

“I can’t help it. Your bed is too comfy,” she said as fell back onto my bed getting under the covers.

 

“That’s what you say about everything. ‘I couldn’t help it, the desk was too comfy.’” I was starting to feel drowsy already. Those pills worked fast.

 

She hit me with a pillow. “Shut up,” she said in her ice princess tone again. I let out another laugh and held in a yawn. “Why is your room so cold? No wonder you got sick…” she mumbled as she snuggled further into my bed.

 

I don’t know what triggered it then, but at that moment, I wanted nothing more than to tell her. To tell her that I thought she was the most beautiful person I had ever met; to tell her that I wanted her to stop flirting with other guys; to tell her that I didn’t want her to leave; to tell her that she should stay by my side; to tell her that she made me feel things I’ve never felt before.

 

I wanted to tell her.

 

“Sica…I…”

 

“Hm?” she peeked out from behind the covers. The words got caught in my throat. I could feel all my confidence go out the window.

 

“F-Falling asleep again?” I chuckled. She only pouted and sat up.

 

“No…” she grabbed the empty glass of water from my hand and placed it next to the book on the end table on her side. “You hungry?”

 

“Are you cooking?” I asked in slight fear. I had to suffer through her cooking once…and once was enough. I did end up eating all of it…but that was only because she kept staring at me expectedly throughout the entire meal.

 

“No, you know I can’t cook.” I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding. “I cut up some fruit for you earlier while you were sleeping.” She handed me a bowl full of fruit. I could only grin at the sight. Almost every single one was oddly cut. I had to stifle my laughter. Of course Sica…I needed to teach her to use a knife one day.

 

“Thanks Sica,” I said, “but I’m not really that hungry. Being sick really makes you lose your appetite.”

 

She pouted again. She really needs to stop doing that. I don’t know how much longer I can take it. She grabbed a piece and put it next to my mouth. “You need to eat so you can get better, Yuri. Say ahh~”

 

I could feel the heat rising up to my cheeks. She was so close to me…

 

I opened my mouth and let her feed me a couple pieces of the oddly shaped fruit before she put the bowl down. “Are you okay? Your face is red,” she said as she put a hand up to my forehead. I could feel my face turn even redder.

 

“I-I’m fine,” I stuttered and waved off her hands. Almost four months with this girl and I still couldn’t stop stuttering. I couldn’t hold in my yawn this time. Those must have been some high quality pills..

 

“Your nose is running,” she said as she grabbed a tissue and put it up against my nose. “Blow.”

 

I couldn’t help but laugh a little. “Reminds me of when we first met,” I muttered before blowing my nose. She let out a small giggle too.

 

“Yeah…hey…did Taeng really need that book?”

 

“Um, what?” The medicine was starting to really kick in. I felt drowsier by the second. “Oh, thaat book, nahh,” I mumbled. Hmm, two Sicas…pretty…

 

“Then why did you have it?” she asked as she frowned in confusion.

 

“You’re so cute Sica…” I muttered. I saw her face flush. “It was just a random book I grabbed…” These meds know how to do their job…

 

“Why’d you grab a random book?” I grinned at her. Why are you so beautiful, Jessica?

 

“Because I was trying to get a better look at you without drawing a lot of attention.”

 

“W-what?”

 

“Yup!” I fell back onto the bed. She wouldn’t mind if I closed my eyes for a couple minutes, right? “You’re really pretty you know that?” I mumbled into my pillow. I could feel her my hair and cover me with a blanket. “I mean like, really, really, really pretty. You’re more beautifuler than anything I’ve ever seen…”

 

 

A couple hours later

 

What time is it?

 

I tried to open my eyes. Ugh.

 

Too bright.

 

I shifted so that my face was buried completely in my pillow. A couple more minutes of sleep wouldn’t hurt. It wasn't long before I heard someone singing softly beside me.

 

I opened my eyes and focused my gaze where the beautiful voice came from. Jessica?

 

She hadn’t noticed that I was staring at her yet. She was sitting up in bed reading her book and singing to herself. I smiled at the sight. Her voice was beautiful, just like its owner.

 

You never cease to surprise me, do you?

 

 

 

“Sica,” I said in a raspy voice, still not fully awake. She turned to me surprised.

 

“What is it?” she asked as I fixed my gaze anywhere but her. I can’t…can I?

 

You can.

 

“Just…stay with me,” I muttered before closing my eyes again. Chickened out again…Well, at least that was part of it…

 

“Who said I was going anywhere?” she mumbled. “Yuri-ah, eat something before you go back to sleep. Sooyoung and Sunny brought over some food when they heard you were sick.”

 

I sat up feeling much better than I did before and stretched. My headache’s gone! That was always a good sign. “Sooyoung and Sunny? What were they doing here?” They sure have been spending a lot of time together…I glanced outside the window. It looked pretty dark. The lamp in my room was the only thing brightening up the room. “And what time is it?”

 

“Yeah, um, I got bored and called them,” she said. Something seemed a little off about her answer. Sica would just go to sleep if she was bored, wouldn’t she? “And it’s around three in the morning.”

 

“You called them? Why – WAIT, THREE IN THE MORNING?” My eyes grew big at the realization and I instantly sat up straight. I stared at Jessica with my mouth wide open. She took that chance to feed me the chicken soup that Sooyoung and Sunny apparently brought over. I swallowed and stared at her.

 

“What are you still doing here?” Did Yoona not come back? “Yoona –” She stuffed the spoon in my mouth again. It’s good, but I need answers woman!

 

“Yoona called and said she was spending the night at Taeng’s and Seohyun’s since it was getting late and her house was closer.”

 

“Oh…so what are –”

 

“I stayed to figure some things out.” I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. “And I had some help…that’s…that’s the real reason I called Sooyoung and Sunny over.”

 

“Figure what things out?” She hesitated a bit before answering me and put down the thermos that held the soup.

 

“Do you remember what you said before you fell asleep?” I thought hard about it. I couldn’t even remember if I was talking before I fell asleep. I shook my head in response to her question.

 

“What’d I say?”

 

A sudden realization struck me. I couldn’t have…did I?

 

She shyly smiled at me. Gosh, you’re so cute…does this mean…oh god, I did, didn’t I? I started to panic. Was it getting hot in here?

 

“You were talking about how we first met.” She scooted closer to me. I gulped.

 

“A-and?” I felt my face heat up. She looked hesitant again.

 

“And...you happened to mention something interesting.” She leaned in a little bit. My mind went blank.

 

“Well I, uh…” She leaned in even closer. Our faces were only inches apart.

 

She was ten times prettier up close. Her blonde hair seemed to make her milky white skin shine even more. Everything about was just so…amazing. It left me dumbfounded. Her eyes, her nose, her cheeks…

 

Her lips.

 

I was mesmerized by her lips. She smiled again and showed off her perfect teeth.

 

“Well?” she whispered.

 

I felt her breath on my lips and my face probably turned the darkest shade of red possible. She leaned in even closer. I could feel my heart start to race. Did she feel it too? Our lips were almost touching…so close…

 

I retracted my head quickly in fear when I saw her so close and hit my head against the wall.

 

“Ow…” I muttered rubbing the back of my head. Her lips…they were so close to mine…why’d I have to panic? She giggled and moved so that she was straddling me as I leaned against the back of the bed. What…what is she doing…?

 

Can’t say I don’t like this though…

 

“You okay?” she whispered. I nodded numbly in response. “Merry Christmas, by the way.” She gave me that shy smile again. I felt like I was melting in her presence. I had to laugh at the irony.

 

I thought I was supposed to melt the ice princess, not the other way around…

 

“Merry Christmas,” I croaked out, my throat failing to cooperate with me. She started to lean close again and wrapped her arms around my neck. I gulped. Is…is this a dream?

 

Please don’t let this be a dream.

 

“You owe me a present,” she whispered against my lips. She stared into my eyes, and I instantly felt myself relax a little bit. I began to find the comfort in her arms, and I automatically wrapped my arms around her waist.

 

“Okay,” was the only thing I managed to say. I did the only thing I could and followed my instincts. I leaned forward and felt her warm lips against mine.

 

The feeling was indescribable. I closed my eyes and found myself getting lost in the moment as her lips moved against mine slowly. My heart felt like it was about to burst out of my chest. She pushed herself against me even more as she tightened her hold around my neck and deepened the innocent kiss.

 

I need to tell her…

 

Reluctantly, I pulled away first.

 

We were both breathing deeply as we leaned our foreheads against each other. We both had these silly grins on our faces.

 

Was this actually happening to me? This was way too good to be true.

 

“Was that present good enough?” Her grin grew wider as a response. It felt like my heart would leap out of my chest at any moment. “Sica.”

 

“Hm?” she replied lazily. She pulled away and put a little distance between us as she sensed the serious tone. “What’s up?”

 

“I have something to tell you,” I paused. She looked at my expectedly. I wasn’t really sure what to say at this point. Maybe I should’ve listened to Taeng’s whale idea…

 

“Y-you…you’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever met. When I asked myself why I liked you, I wasn’t really sure what to say. I like everything about you, there were too many words to say, too many feelings to try and convey. A-and, you know, I’ve never really done this before, with a girl I mean. But, girl or boy, you’re the first person to make me feel this way. I don’t even know how to describe it. It’s beyond words. All I know is that I really like you, Sica. So please, give me a chance to show you how much you mean to me. Give me a chance to make you feel the same way.”

 

The words just rolled off of my tongue. My mind was jumbled with so many thoughts, so I was thankful that I managed to come up with something coherent. I looked at her and she stared back at me with a look that I had never seen before. Even after that kiss, I was still nervous. Was she just playing around with me? Was she playing with my feelings then? What if she doesn’t feel the same way?

 

The seconds felt like minutes as I waited for a response from her.

 

“Yuri, you’re really slow at these things, huh?” she laughed and stared at me with that look again. I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion again. “I really like you too…” I felt my heart speed up. “I’ll give you all the chances you need, but I have feeling you’ll only need one.”

 

“Really?” My head jerked back in surprise and I hit the wall again, except this time was a lot harder. I felt something fall and hit my head. Hard.

 

“Owww!” I rubbed the bump forming on my head.

 

I looked down to see the picture frame I hung up of me and Taeyeon. Taeyeon…you always find a way to ruin the moment even when you’re not here, huh?

 

I heard her giggle again and felt her put a pack of ice on the bump. Where the hell did she get that from? “I knew this would happen…” I offered her another sheepish grin at her. “Why are you always bumping into things?”

 

I laughed.

 

“Guess I’m just accident prone.”